“There are no simple ‘right’ answers for most web design questions (at least not for the important ones). What works is good, integrated design that fills a need—carefully thought out, well executed, and tested.” – Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug

Be sure to pick up Steve’s book Don’t Make Me Think if you haven’t already. It is a great overview of basic usability topics.

“Information architecture is not about surface glamor; it’s about mission-critical infrastructure. And infrastructure has widespread and long-term impact. The ripples of our designs spread outwards, affecting the work of interface designers, programmers, authors, and eventually users… As we design the legacy information architectures of tomorrow, we should consider our responsibility to the big here and the long now.” – Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville

“The world is complex, and so too must be the activities that we perform. But that doesn’t mean that we must live in continual frustration. No. The whole point of human-centered design is to tame complexity, to turn what would appear to be a complicated tool into one that fits the task, that is understandable, usable, enjoyable.” – Don Norman

Read Don’s article “Simplicity Is Not The Answer” for his thoughts on why simplicity should not necessarily be the primary goal when creating products and services.

“Experience design should not be solely brand focused; instead it should not be too branded focused. It is about designing delivery of customer needs, so naturally it should start with the customers. It should form the core of a go-to-market strategy of any brand. It is the experience first, then the messages.” – Idris Mootee